KUALA LUMPUR - A former nightclub bouncer was sentenced to five years in prison by the Sessions Court here today after being found guilty of beating a man and blinding his right eye at a nightclub 10 years ago.
Judge Mazuliana Abdul Rashid handed down the sentence to Jamsari Idris, 53, after finding that the defence had failed to raise reasonable doubts at the end of the defence case.
Jamsari was charged with causing grievous bodily harm to Muhammad Ramdhan Aidil Norsham, 28, at a nightclub in Dang Wangi here at 3.30am, Nov 6, 2016, under Section 325 of the Penal Code which provides for a maximum jail term of seven years and a fine.
Mazuliana, when reading out her decision, said the court rejected the defence submissions regarding the victim's failure to name the accused in the police report, given that the fact that the victim had identified the accused who punched him was beyond doubt.
According to the judge, the defence evidence of the accused stating that he had tried to calm the victim down in the incident was also found to be unreasonable.
"During cross-examination, the accused failed to detail how he calmed the victim and only replied 'I don't know' and admitted that there was no supporting evidence to refute the claim that he hit the victim.
"The court found that the accused's defence was only a hollow denial without a reasonable explanation and was not a legally valid defence," he said.
The court also ordered the accused to serve his prison sentence starting today after rejecting the defence's application to stay the execution of the sentence pending an appeal at the High Court.
Earlier, the court heard and considered the Victim Impact Statement which detailed Muhammad Ramdhan's difficulties after losing his sight including the inability to hold his glasses without dropping them, ride a motorcycle and drive a car as before.
"After the incident, my life was affected. I was involved in an accident when the motorcycle I was riding hit a pothole and broke three of my toes. I was also laid off and tried to find another job at 12 companies, but did not receive any response.
"I then opened a nasi lemak stall with my wife and earned between RM3,000 and RM4,000 a month and received a monthly assistance of RM400 from the Social Welfare Department (JKM). I want to earn more money because I support my wife, three children and parents," he said, asking the court to give the accused a fair sentence.
In today's proceedings, Jamsari was represented by lawyer Shah Rizal Abdul Manan while the prosecution was handled by deputy public prosecutor Ravindejit Kaur. - BERNAMA